Thursday, August 9, 2007

Overflowing in everyway…

It’s Been a very BUSY few weeks hence the hiatus in the blogging…

After Mary and Eoin left, our good friends Angela and Phil visited with Mr. Cameron and their dog Otto it was a super fine visit. They where in great form and Mr. Cameron was a gem! We learned that we need to lock up the chickens when we have 4 legged visitors who haven’t learned about electric fences and chickens…

We also learned that Edward really IS a Guard Lama… Is started when Mr. Otto was so overwhelmed by animals and big open spaces he felt the need to introduce him self to everybody despite electric fencing… When we went up the hill Otto went right over the goat fence in a single bound (he’s a 90 lb wymaraner (sp) and very athletic) Edward who up until now although looks intimidating has never so much as shown a foot stop of aggression. When Otto leapt into his pen with the little goaties Edward turned into the meanest looking creature I’d seen in a long time… I was VERY worried about Otto .. Edward was at full tilt after Otto yelling and stomping all the way … the dog got out of that area so fast and wasn’t going anywhere near that lama again.. it was very impressive and no body got hurt thankfully… and now we know EDWARD means business Edward got a special treat for that performance … he needs to teach chief a little about being courageous…

In addition to Angela and Phill we got a quick visit from Nile and Whitney (the newlyweds: ) congrats again!! And then Steve and Betsy who came up for IPNC which we did get to attend (part in thanks to Mr Berson) Great to see you both and thank you for all the wine and olive oil!! This visit was followed by My Painter Friend Eileen… that was a good shot in the arm between talking about painting we also took a overnight to Brightenbush (thank you Eileen!!) and soaked in the hot tubs and generally relaxed…

In Other News Prosciutto and Pancetta, have transitioned from farm to table. I will miss them and am grateful for their contribution to our table! They where very sweet pigs and they had the best life a pig could have in my opinion and we had them slaughtered here on the farm quickly and humanly. We did have our first chops last night. We did a taste test next to Carlton farms pork and I must say that’s good pork but the pork we-raised is excellent the flavors are so much MORE … It gave us great satisfaction to know that not only did we raise these animals in the best way possible (organic grain at 3x’s the price and pasture and space and loads of scratches), we also have a product that is WAY tastier and better for the body’s that enjoy it.

Special Thanks go to Maggie and Michael, Mr. Matt Berson, and Kurt and Natalie for buying our first pork… This pork is not the cheapest pork but we are doing something bigger than buying cheep feed lot meat here… (I won’t even start : )

The garden despite a hard spring and two broken arms at a critical garden time… with some help during those critical times (thanks Mom, Dad, Joseph, Helga, David and Will) have have managed to harvest peas, broccoli, squash, tomatoes, chard, spinach, potatoes and tons of salads .. the herb garden is also doing us proud… more on the garden in another blog me thinks…

Brian has been working hard in the shop he's re-worked new the new old crawler and now we can safely traverse the big hill and turn both left AND right.. it's the little things... Brian also found an old "busted up" disc in the metal scrap yard so he hauled it home re-welded it got it hooked up to maggie the massie and stared to get the ruts outta the big field behind the barn... wooo hooo it felt like we where maybe starting to tame this wild place .. just a little bit mind you : ) we still have 30 acres of scotch broom... although the new goats are helping .. slowing but surely...

So happy summer … thanks for all the continued support on the arms, they are healing up super fast and now I’m just building strength. I’m able to lift most things I need to around the farm and work in the garden again which is great!!!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

So glad to hear you have just been busy! I hope you didn't drive by the house when you were in town - I've had a heck of a year, but I think all is good now and getting better. Have a puppy now, Jack, who is really good for my Heidi. Lots and lots of tomatoes, onions, leek, garlic in the garden, and at least 6-7 dozen peaches! Yay! Take care, Clare, and hello to Brian!

Clare Carver said...

ohhh those peaches .. gosh I do miss them. : ) enjoy one for me. ahh and napa tomatoes are just the best!!! I bet you are totally overflowing at this point... thanks for the note.. and kiss those sweet doggies on the head for me... c

Unknown said...

Clare- I just spent a good hour reading your blog.. I so much enjoyed reading what you guys and the farm have been up to. So sorry to hear about your injuries! What a bummer, to say the least. Enjoy the rest of the summer and take care.... tracey